Exceptionality Education International

When school systems and administrations provide educators with opportunities to engage in transformative learning through reflective practice and provide opportunities to challenge their beliefs, educator pedagogy for inclusive education can be enhanced (Evans, 1997; Pyhältö et al., 2012; Richardson, 1998). Our research examined the experiences of 11 inclusion coaches while they provided support and built capacity for 38 educators during a change in special education service delivery, seeking insight into the effectiveness of this coaching model. Coaches’ experiences were shared during semi-focused group discussions and via an online blog. Qualitative analysis revealed coaches’ roles in this context were influenced ...

Teachers' Attitudes And Their Effect On Placement Recommendations For Students With Cognitive Disabilities, Kathleen M. Everett

Doctor of Education in Special Education Dissertations

The implementation of Public Law 94-142 in 1974 guaranteed that students with disabilities had the right to be educated alongside their peers in the least restrictive environment. However, decades later, administrators, teachers, and parents continue to struggle to resolve the issue on how to include students with disabilities in general education classrooms, as well as how to recognize why students with cognitive disabilities were embodied more in self-contained classrooms than in comprehensive environments. In this study, I aimed to understand how special education teachers’ attitudes about inclusion, LRE, and students with cognitive disabilities influence placement recommendations. Through the qualitative thematic ...

Exploring Social Development In A Child With Autism Who Uses The Language Acquisition Through Motor Planning (Lamp) Treatment Approach, Danielle L. Giangrasso

Education and Human Development Master's Theses

This study reviews how the communication device called Language Acquisition through Motor Planning (LAMP) influenced a specific child’s social development. The child in this study has autism and communicates nonverbally. I collected qualitative and quantitative data by recording field note observations, tracking behavioral data such as eye contact and social initiation, and having participants who personally know the child complete a survey regarding their thoughts on this topic. Findings were derived from the research. The findings were 1) socialization occurs more with adults, 2) LAMP gives opportunities to socialize, 3) communication occurs mostly when there is a highly motivating ...

The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship

An increase in the prevalence rate of autism is not necessarily matched by a concurrent increase in the rate of highly qualified special education teachers, resulting in chronic teacher shortages in this area. Alternative certification (AC) is used as a mechanism to alleviate the demand for highly qualified special education teachers. However, AC routes have often left novice teachers underprepared for teaching students with autism, more specifically in the implementation of evidence-based practices necessary for instructional effectiveness. The purpose of the study was to assess the knowledge of novice AC teachers in the area of autism intervention and to determine ...

Exploring The Impact Of Assistive Technologies In The Classroom For Students With Disabilities, Katie Coulon

Education and Human Development Master's Theses

This analytical review explores the impact of assistive technology (AT) on academic achievement for students with physical, intellectual, and developmental disabilities in pre-K to 12 th -grade classrooms. Extant scholarly literature from 2010 to 2015 is examined in this analytical review. Findings indicate that when students with physical, intellectual, and developmental disabilities use AT such as iPads®, software, speech generators, electronic notebooks, and computer-assisted instruction, there was an increase in academic achievement (e.g. spelling or writing skills) and an increase in student engagement. AT may be effective for one student; however, it may not be effective for another student ...

ETSU Faculty Works

Based on recent literature reviews on the use of Visual Activity Schedules (VAS) for students with intellectual disability and autism, the strategy has been deemed an evidence based practice. Using the literature highlighted in the recent reviews, this article provides an overview of VAS and common skills VAS has been used to teach. Additionally, the authors provide guidelines on schedules variations, creating schedules, and implementing the schedules. Finally, several examples of VAS are included.

Dr. Russell Barkley, clinical professor of psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina and medical expert in ADD, shares that this disorder is primarily about emotional regulation and self-control. It is not just about inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. Emotional regulation, which is foundational to social, emotional, and ...

Not Another One: The Over Identification Of Hispanic Children In Ecse, Gail I. Becker, Aaron R. Deris

Special Education Department Faculty Publications

This session presents a current study that examined the overrepresentation of Hispanic English language learners in early childhood settings. Results of this phenomenological study will be reviewed along with implications for practitioners. Participants will gain an understanding of the needs of English language learners and ways to increase school professionals' efficacy.

Perceptions On Inclusion In Elementary Schools, Rosanne Field

EDL Sixth Year Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine how perceptions on inclusion impact supports of both special needs and regular education students in first grade. In order to grow a stronger understanding of what perceptions are in place, the perception had by teachers and administrations, and their direct impact on supports provided, two first grade classes, two classroom teachers, and one administrator were used to seek the answers we were looking for. This study explored the impact perceptions had on two first grade teachers, one administrator, and the impacts of support on 32 first grade students. Quantitative and qualitative methods ...

EDL Sixth Year Theses

This case study focuses on male gender disparity in education and the large numbers of males referred and receiving special education services. The data indicates that females outperform males academically, and that the males behaviors impacts their academic success. The connection to males at a young age being placed in low ability reading groups based upon behaviors, and their motivation and academic achievement is affected negatively. The eighth grade students at a PK - 8th grade rural Connecticut school participated in this researcher’s case study. The case study looked at, how students perceived their education, and what role their education ...

Bryn Harris

Past researchers suggested there are a number of shortcomings in the psychoeducational evaluation process and practices used with English language learners (ELLs). In the present exploratory study, the authors descriptively examined the assessment practices used in the special education eligibility determination process for ELLs as documented in 34 psychoeducational evaluation reports in one southwestern state. The authors reviewed psychoeducational evaluation reports prepared by school psychologists to determine (a) the extent to which school psychologists adhered to legal and ethical guidelines in the evaluation of ELLs for special education eligibility and needs and (b) how school psychologists account for cultural and ...

Reflective Peace In The At-Risk Classroom, Aaron C. Lawrick

Education and Human Development Master's Theses

The intent of this project was to design a system to encourage self-reflection in the At-risk classroom. As teachers and staff working with these students, we must first learn and then model the success of self-reflection. We must know ways to properly look within ourselves through reflection and introspection, enabling our pedagogies to grow and evolve, to be at the ready to inspire whichever population of students we work with. The data from this project represents proof that classroom intervention strategies that focus on peace through self-understanding are vital for the overall success of ED students and the dedicated staff ...

The Effect Of District Provided Training And Paraprofessional Self-Efficacy, Meredith Madden

All Capstone Projects

The purpose of this research study was to investigate the effect(s) district provided training, or lack thereof, had on paraprofessional self-efficacy. This study was a descriptive action research study using a survey design. The participants of this study were selected from a south suburban, Cook county high school district. All participants, when surveyed, were currently employed paraprofessionals working with students with disabilities in grades 9-12. This study was conducted as part of a Multicategorical Special Education graduate student culminating project at Governors State University in summer 2015.

Collaboration And Co-Teaching In A High Needs Learning Environment, Heather West

Education and Human Development Master's Theses

Co-teaching is a dynamic relationship between two teachers sharing the responsibilities of a classroom. In a typical co-taught classroom there are two expertise, a general education teacher and a special education teacher. In this study, I have examined the relationship of my co-taught classroom that is focused in a high needs environment. We are both special education teachers with a variety of skills and experiences. I also included the collaborative relationship we have formed with another teacher in order to instruct a small group of girls with special needs in a health education class.

Abandoned To Their Fate: A History Of Social Policy And Practice Toward Severely Retarded People In America, 1820-1920, Philip Ferguson

Philip M. Ferguson

This study examines the history of severely mentally retarded people from 1820 to 1920 in America, and their relationship with an emerging class of professionals newly charged with their care. The early history of one specialized asylum in Rome, New York, receives particular attention as an illustrative case study of the processes that influenced institutional development throughout the last half of the nineteenth century.
The notion of "chronicity" is adopted to refer to a process of social construction whereby multiple dimensions of social failure (aesthetic, moral, and economic) in the lives of people called "idiots" and "imbeciles," were subsumed under ...

Creating The Continuum: J. E. Wallace Wallin And The Role Of Clinical Psychology In The Emergence Of Public School Special Education In America, Philip M. Ferguson

Philip M. Ferguson

This paper reviews the history of the continuum of services in intellectual disability programs. The emergence of public school special education in the United States in the first two decades of the 20th century is used as a case study of this history by focusing on events and personalities connected to the St. Louis Public Schools. Using Annual Reports from the era along with the abundant publications and personal papers of J.E. Wallace Wallin, the author explores how the growing class of specialists in clinical psychology and psychometrics gained a foothold in the schools as educational gatekeepers for student ...

Examining The Quality Of Secondary Transition Plans Against Research-Based Criteria In Preparing Students With Disabilities For Postsecondary Success, Vickie Miller-Warren

The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship

As required by law a transition plan is supposed to be designed to clearly define a student’s postsecondary goals by addressing the strengths, needs, and interests of the student in order to develop an appropriate curricular plan and community-based instruction necessary to meet the student’s outlined postsecondary goals (Collet-Klingenberg & Kolb, 2011; IDEA, 2004). This study examined the secondary transition plans of students with disabilities, who graduated in 2011 from a small rural school district, for quality based on a set of research-based criteria in preparing the students’ to meet their desired postsecondary goals. Although the majority of the transition plans ...

The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship

Special education teachers leave the field at a rate that outpaces their general education teacher counterparts, with special education teaching positions unfilled at a rate 5.5 times greater than general education positions (Boe, 2006). This study identified perceptions of risk and resilience in nine first year special education teachers in order to identify how to best support and retain them. Through semi-structured interviews the teachers described their experiences in the following roles (1) co-teaching, (2) self-contained, (3) case management, and (4) “other” (e.g., coach, tutor). Participants identified and positively or negatively ranked six “feeling” words they experienced in ...

The Impact Of Co-Teaching On General Education Students In Seventh Grade Math, Kenneth Lamar James

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Federal legislation has mandated that all students, including students with disabilities, perform at or above a certain level on standardized tests. Students with disabilities consistently have scored below the required minimum score. Educators have begun implementing co-teaching strategies in the general education classroom in order to better serve the students with disabilities. This has caused concern among some parents and other educators as to how the inclusion of special education students in the general classroom will affect the achievement of general education students. This quantitative study is designed to gather data from the math section of the Criterion Referenced Competency ...

How Foucault’S Panopticon Governs Special Education In California, Gail Angus, John M. Winslade

Wisdom in Education

Special education laws in California function to create compliance by creating an environment of constant surveillance and monitoring from a range of perspectives. Even those who do the monitoring are themselves subject to this surveillance. This process is explained with reference to Bentham’s design of the panopticon and analyzed in relation to Foucault’s concept of governmentality. The intent here is to show how professionals’ and laypersons’ actions are governed by seeking to avoid being seen to behave incorrectly or getting caught behaving inappropriately. The governing of people’s lives is thus dispersed through professional decision-making and reporting. The ...

Public Access Theses and Dissertations from the College of Education and Human Sciences

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of a standard protocol supplemental expository text structure intervention (i.e., Structures) on 45 4th and 5th graders experiencing reading difficulties. Students were enrolled in six K-8 parochial schools located in a Midwestern suburban city. Within classrooms, students were randomly assigned to Structures intervention or a business-as-usual control condition. Students in the Structures condition were taught to identify and discriminate among the five text structures used by authors of expository text (Meyer, 1975, 1985): description, sequence, cause/effect, compare/contrast, and problem/solution. Students in the business-as-usual control ...

Efficacy Of A Sentence Writing Strategy For Postsecondary Students With Special Needs, Erica Rochelle Kaldenberg

Theses and Dissertations

Students with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) struggle with writing. Writing is an important skill for everyday life; therefore, it is essential that students with ID receive effective writing instruction. Explicit writing instruction adhering to the Strategic Instruction Model (SIM) has shown to be an effective writing strategy for postsecondary students with ID. However, the impact of simple sentence writing instruction has not been studied for this population. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of part I of the Proficiency in Sentence Writing Strategy (Sheldon & Schumaker, 1999). Results indicate that students were able to learn and apply ...

The Effects Of A Training Session On Teacher Knowledge, Perceptions, And Implementation Of Assistive Technology In Secondary Schools., Robert Woodbury Jr

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports

Despite the prevalence of students with mild disabilities in special education and the legal mandate to consider assistive technology to support their needs, research suggests low rates of assistive technology use by this population (Bouck, Maeda, & Flanagan, 2012; Derer, Polsgrove, & Rieth, 1996; Quinn, Behrmann, Mastropieri, & Chung, 2009). One major barrier to assistive technology consideration and implementation cited by teachers is a lack of training. This study examined changes in teachers’ knowledge, perceptions, and implementation of assistive technology as a result of a hands-on teacher training session. Participants included 61 regular and special education teachers and administrators in secondary public schools in one Western state ...

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The intent of this study was to see how specific online tools could be used to increase special education students’ literacy. The study took place in two public high schools in metropolitan areas. The students involved in the study included both general and special education students, males and females, and grade levels 9 through 12. Data was collected using pre- and post- assessment reading tests, student/teacher reflections, vocabulary practice, and annotated readings. The study demonstrated the importance of factors we had not fully considered in planning the action research project, including the learning curve students experience using new technology ...

Stories From Nejapa, Kathleen Van Tol

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"A word picture of what inclusion looks like at the Nicaragua Christian Academy – Nejapa."

Posting about one teacher’s work with inclusive education in Nicaragua from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

Teacher Perceptions Of Elementary Students With An
Articulation Disorder Of Varying Degrees, Morgan Lee Johnson

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The purpose of this study is to examine teacher perceptions of elementary students who have an articulation disorder. An electronic survey was given to teachers in two elementary schools within Indianapolis, and specifically, Pike Township. The teachers rated six hypothetical student profiles on competence, intelligence, and various behaviors. Utilizing a standard Likert scale, the different hypothetical student profiles yielded scores that showed how positively the teachers viewed the hypothetical students. To ensure validity, there were control student profiles with no label or other, non-speech related disorders. It was hypothesized that the profiles for typically developing students would be given the ...

Evaluation Of Teachers Of Students With Low-Incidence Disabilities, Martyann Guiney

Masters Theses

Current reforms of teacher evaluation systems in the state of Michigan are meant to improve teacher effectiveness, resulting in increased student growth and achievement. However, little research exists to support best practices in the evaluation of special education teachers. The evaluation of special education teachers involves many unique challenges which are especially apparent when evaluating teachers of students with lowincidence disabilities. The tools and processes being proposed by the state are born from research within general education and, consequently, may not be effective in meeting the unique challenges of evaluating special education teachers. The perceptions of special education administrators regarding ...

Preschool Experience Vs. No Preschool Experience: Long Term Effects On Academic And Social Readiness Of Children, Dionne C. Estes

Graduate Master's Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

Despite federal and state investments in early education intervention programs,achievement gaps continue to afflict the education system with children from low-income families having an increased need for high quality preschool education. When children from underprivileged families move through the education system, the chances of academic success becomes difficult as the education gap increases year after year, and they fall farther behind. By the time these students enter high school, they are behind academically and unable to meet grade level requirements. Many of them to give up and quit attending school, leading to an increase in the dropout rate.

Masters Theses/Capstone Projects

Schools have been pushed toward inclusive practices with an emphasis on co-teaching models (Yeung, 2012), yet reservations exist and little is known about the effects of inclusive practices. The questions this study aims to answer are: 1. Does inclusion with an emphasis on co-teaching affect performance of newly transitioning students with disabilities on district and teacher made summative assessments?, and 2. Does inclusion with co-teaching have a carry-over effect on typically-developing students’ assessment scores? This study aims to investigate the effect of inclusive practices on student summative assessment scores. Results from the district preassessment were gathered for all students in ...

Education For All, Kathleen Van Tol

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"In Nicaragua, teachers do not have the option of sending their students to the special education classroom to work on a particular skill or activity. Just as there are no educational assistants, there are no special education classrooms and no special education teachers."

Posting about one teacher’s goal to bring inclusive education available to all schools in Nicaragua from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.